MIAMI — The Miami Heat continues to look like the class of the Eastern Conference.
In a matchup between the top two teams in the East standings, the first-place Heat (41-21) dominated the second-place Chicago Bulls 112-99 on Monday night at FTX Arena. Miami, which has won four straight and nine of the last 10 games, clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker over Chicago and is 3-0 against the Bulls this season.
With the win, the East-leading Heat also moved two games ahead of the Bulls (39-23). Miami is now three games ahead of the third-place Philadelphia 76ers.
The Heat was ahead for most of the night, as the Bulls’ final lead came at 6-5 early in the first quarter.
Miami ended the first quarter with a 30-21 lead and also entered halftime ahead by nine points.
Then the Heat broke the game open by outscoring the Bulls 36-21 in the third quarter to enter the final period with a 24-point advantage. Miami shot 59.1 percent from the field and dished out nine assists to just one turnover in the third, while Chicago shot 36.4 percent from the field in the quarter.
With Heat point guard Kyle Lowry missing the game because of personal reasons, Gabe Vincent thrived in his place in the starting lineup with 20 points while shooting 7-of-13 from the field and 4-of-8 shooting on threes.
Then the Heat trio of Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro took care of the rest.
Adebayo finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Butler ended the night with 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Herro contributed 20 points, six rebounds and five assists off the bench.
MVP candidate DeMar DeRozan finished with 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting for the Bulls. The performance snapped DeRozan’s streak of 10 consecutive games with more than 30 points.
The Heat now hits the road to continue its week-long stretch against some of the East’s best with a back-to-back set that begins Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks and ends Thursday against the Brooklyn Nets.
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s win over the Bulls:
In matchup between the Heat’s elite defense and the Bulls’ elite offense, the Heat won.
Miami won Monday behind a masterful defensive performance. The Bulls totaled just 67 points on 42.9 percent shooting from the field, 3-of-21 (14.3 percent) shooting on threes and 12 turnovers through the first three quarters, as the Heat entered the fourth ahead by 24.
The Heat entered with the NBA’s sixth-best defensive rating and the Bulls entered with the fourth-best offensive rating this season.
The Heat’s defense was in control from the start, as its constant switching and random traps helped to speed up the Bulls’ offense into eight first-quarter turnovers.
The Bulls tried to take advantage of the Heat’s switching by finding skilled center Nikola Vucevic on smaller defenders, but Miami negated that advantage by fronting the post to challenge post passes and sending help whenever Vucevic did get the ball.
The Bulls also shot just 7 of 29 (24.1 percent) from three-point range in the loss.
The Heat improved to 29-5 this season when its opponent shoots 35 percent or worse from three-point range.
As usual, Adebayo and Butler were the catalysts behind the Heat’s defensive effort. Adebayo recorded two steals and two blocks, and Butler finished with four steals.
As expected, Gabe Vincent starting in Lowry’s place at point guard. Vincent’s growth was again on display.
Along with Vincent’s 20 points on 13 shots, the Heat outscored the Bulls by 18 points in the 33 minutes Vincent was on the court. He scored 14 points in the first half and then scored six points within the first three minutes of the second half to help ignite Miami’s big third-quarter run.
Vincent, 25, also started in Lowry’s place in each of the nine games he missed because of personal reasons from Jan. 17 through Feb. 1. Vincent also shined during that stretch, averaged 12.4 points while shooting 41.3 percent on seven three-point attempts per game, 2.1 rebounds and five assists in those nine games filling in for Lowry in the starting lineup.
Establishing himself as a consistent member of the bench rotation, Vincent entered Monday averaging career-highs in points (9.2), rebounds (2), assists (3.4) and minutes (24.1) while shooting a career-best 37.4 percent from three-point range this season.
With Heat guard Victor Oladipo moving closer to a return, it’s not going to be as simple as just inserting Oladipo into the rotation for Vincent. With the way Vincent has played this season, he’s making a strong case to remain in the rotation even as the roster moves closer to full health.
Max Strus was back in the Heat’s rotation.
With Vincent moving into the starting lineup in place of Lowry, that opened a spot in Miami’s bench rotation. The Heat used Tyler Herro, Dewayne Dedmon, Caleb Martin and Strus as its reserves to complete its nine-man rotation on Monday.
Herro, Dedmon, Martin have been consistent members of Miami’s bench attack. Strus had been until recently.
Strus found himself out of the rotation when the Heat returned from the All-Star break, as he played just seven minutes in Friday’s win over the New York Knicks and received his first DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision) since Nov. 24 in Saturday’s win over the San Antonio Spurs.
Strus went scoreless through the first three quarters on Monday, but he erupted for 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the fourth.
The Heat then emptied the bench in the fourth quarter, with Kyle Guy, Haywood High Smith and Omer Yurtseven getting minutes in the final period. Udonis Haslem was the only available Heat player who did not get into Monday’s game.
The Heat’s success against the NBA’s best and the Bulls’ struggles against the NBA’s best continued.
Not only did the Heat enter with the league’s fourth-best record, but it has also built an impressive record against the NBA’s top teams.
Following its victory over the Bulls, the Heat holds an 11-7 record against teams that entered Monday as a top-five seed in their respective conference.
The Heat will have an opportunity to improve that record in the coming days with a matchup against the fifth-place Bucks in Milwaukee on Wednesday and a showdown against the third-place Philadelphia 76ers in Miami on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Bulls dropped to 2-13 against teams with a .600 winning percentage or better this season. Chicago is just 1-8 against the top five teams in the East, including a combined 0-6 against the first-place Heat and third-place Philadelphia 76ers.
Victor Oladipo was not on the Heat’s bench on Monday because he was in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Oladipo was sent to the Heat’s G League on Sunday to take part in five-on-five work. This marks the second time in recent weeks that Oladipo has traveled to take part in practices with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, as he moves closer to his season debut with the Heat after undergoing May surgery to repair the quadriceps tendon in his right knee.
Coach Erik Spoelstra said Oladipo took part in a “really good practice” on Monday, is expected to go through a “real heavy” practice on Tuesday and “lighter” one on Wednesday before rejoining the Heat in Milwaukee later that day.
Multiple league sources confirmed an ESPN report that the hope is Oladipo, who has not played in an NBA game since April 8, will be able to return to game action within the next two weeks. That could have Oladipo back during the Heat’s season-long seven-game homestand that spans from Saturday through March 18.
Along with missing Oladipo and Lowry on Monday, the Heat was also without Markieff Morris (return to competition recondtioning) and Javonte Smart (G League).
The Bulls were without Lonzo Ball (left knee meniscus tear), Alex Caruso (right wrist fracture), Tyler Cook (G League), Marko Simonovic (G League) and Patrick Williams (left wrist ligament tear).
